


To Love Love

by megastarstrike



Category: Mother 1 | EarthBound Zero | EarthBound Beginnings, Mother 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, baker!claus, nesscas are engaged, wedding planner!ninten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2020-04-24 13:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19174321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megastarstrike/pseuds/megastarstrike
Summary: Ninten absolutely loved love. That was why he was in the wedding industry, after all.Though after a series of events that led to him planning out his best friend's wedding and having to collaborate closely with the baker, it seemed his romantic side had jumped up and ran away screaming, because he didn't know how the fuck to handle love when he was caught in it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to MouseKins for helping me through writing this

Picture Ninten at a semi-sleazy bar at seven o’clock on a Tuesday, summoned by his best friend. He had a glass of wine in front of him while Ness chose to stay sober like a  r ~~esponsible person~~ nerd. They were halfway into a conversation about the wedding Ninten had just attended a few days ago when Ness dropped the ball on him.

“Oh my god, you want  _ me _ to plan your wedding?”

Ness nodded.

“And you told this to me at a fucking two-star bar?”

Ness chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn’t even have an excuse for such poor timing; he hadn’t taken a single sip of alcohol since he stepped in. “Yeah, but it doesn’t sound good when you put it that way.”

“It isn’t good, you dumbass!” Ninten shook Ness’s shoulders, then leveled a serious look at him. “Did you tell your fiance?”

“Lucas? Yeah, he knows I’m asking you.”

“No, I know you wouldn’t pull a move as stupid as making wedding plans without telling him. I’m asking about the bar part.”

“Uh…”

Ninten shook his head, but he couldn’t help the way his heart leapt to his throat in excitement. Taking on another wedding always gave him a rush, but for people as close to him as Ness and Lucas… “I can’t believe this. You want me to plan your wedding?”

Ness grinned. “If you’ll have us as a client.”

“Of course, I will.” Ninten took a swig of the wine in front of him, fanning his face. “Oh my god, I’m gonna cry.”

“You sure don’t look like it, buddy. Your face is pretty blank.”

“But my heart isn’t.”

“You’re drunk.”

“Drunk on  _ love.” _

Ness elbowed him, though he laughed. “Whatever, man. I’m gonna go tell Lucas the news. We can set up our meeting when you’re not drunk.”

“I told you, I’m not drunk. I ain’t no lightweight.”

“Whatever you say. You got a ride?”

“I can literally walk to my apartment from here.”

“I don’t want you drunkenly strolling the streets. We both know what happened last time I let you out on your own.”

Ninten made a face at him, prompting Ness to laugh and wave him goodbye.

After he left, Ninten turned back to the bartender and said, “Two more of these, please.”

 

* * *

Ninten and his family loved love. He had become a wedding planner for a reason. Nobody else had followed him into the wedding planning business, but everyone was present in the industry to some degree. His mother was a photographer, her specialty being in weddings, while his father was a wedding insurance agent. Everyone expected his sisters to enter the same field, but Minnie had become a hair stylist and Mimmie worked with clothes. It both followed and subverted expectations, something Ninten could respect them for.

After eight years in the wedding planning business, Ninten had finally climbed his way to the rung that got him a cheap office space in town with some of his co-workers (who were really just his friends) but was low enough he wasn’t overflowing with work. Even with all his experience, he was still wary about planning a wedding for people he was close to.

He had met Ness in high school when they had both been chosen as captains of the baseball team. After a round of chaos and confusion, they had agreed on being co-captains. They had been best friends since then, to the surprise of both him and everyone else on the team.

While he wasn’t as close to Lucas, they were still good friends. Their first meeting was in college when Ness knocked down the door to his and Ninten’s dorm room and announced he had a boyfriend. Lucas’s first instinct was to push Ness out of the room, slam the door shut, and rush to explain they were just friends. Ninten decided then and there that he liked this new friend. And as Lucas opened the door and apologized profusely to a pouting Ness, Ninten knew Ness would end up being correct.

And now here they were, fiances asking him for help planning their wedding. Wild.

“So neither of you have any idea what you want this wedding to be like?” Ninten sighed, resisting the need to slam his head against his desk.

Ness and Lucas sat across from him, shrugging.

“You’ve been one of the only two people we’ve gone to for this,” Lucas admitted sheepishly. “I mean, we have the baker figured out…”

“You have an idea for the baker, and you didn’t even tell me?”

“Sorry…”

“It’s fine.” Ninten cleared his throat and flipped his laptop open, preparing to take notes. “Can you tell me the bakery name and their contact information?”

Lucas’s face brightened. “Oh, there’s no need to take notes, it’s just my brother. Let me write down his phone number.” He happily scrawled a series of numbers onto the sticky note Ninten passed over with a pen.

Ninten took the sticky note and typed the number into his computer. “That’s strange. I thought I would’ve met your brother by now.”

“He’s, um… something special.”

“Threatened me the first time we met,” Ness snorted. Even with the embarrassment on Lucas’s face, there was no malice behind his voice. “For someone who’s your twin, you two aren’t very alike.”

_ This is gonna be fun, _ Ninten thought to himself as the two in front of him discussed more memories. Lucas’s twin sounded like a real riot, but he had to be experienced in dealing with customers, so he shouldn’t be too hard to work with, right?

“But above all, I want our wedding to feel homey, you know?” Lucas said. “I don’t want it to feel uncomfortable for anyone.”

Ninten brought his laptop closer to him. “Go on.”

“Like, my mom had a sunflower garden in her hometown. And it always had this kind of… I don’t know, funky feel to it that I would like the music to reflect? I’m just spitballing ideas, though.” He nudged Ness. “What do you think?”

“Sounds perfect,” Ness said.

“Lucas,” Ninten called, “I’m pretty sure you could say you wanted everyone to walk in wearing trash bags and Ness would agree to it. Look at those heart eyes.”

Ness looked away, cursing Ninten under his breath while Lucas giggled. Fucking losers.

Ninten spoke again once Ness turned back to him. “But really, I need both of your preferences for this. Ness, do you agree with the preferences Lucas set or do you want to change it a bit?”

“I literally couldn’t care less about what kind of flowers there are,” Ness said, “though would it be too much to ask if we could have some old music, too? I don’t mean classical, I mean like… say, you remember SNES we used to play on? The type of music from it? I think having a wedding with that kind of music would be cool, but it’s okay if it’s too different from Lucas’s request.”

“Ness, you do realize funky and eight-bit aren’t too far off from each other, right?” Ninten ignored Ness’s defensive words and looked at Lucas. “Lucas, you’re cool with this?”

Lucas smiled. “Absolutely. As long as it means I get to see Ness happy.”

“Lucas, you’re killing me,” Ness said, his face reddening.

As much as Ninten would have loved to see Ness further embarrassed, he was on a schedule. “Great, so we’ve got that sorted out. Any clue what kind of venue you want?”

Again, both Ness and Lucas shrugged, and Ninten wanted to scream.

 

* * *

Ninten’s co-workers functioned as more of a team than as separate wedding planners, something that took too long for him to take to heart. Even with their separate office rooms (and the frequent arguments over who stole whose snack from the fridge in the conference room), they found themselves taking on some aspects of a wedding and leaving other aspects to their co-workers than not.

And for god knows whatever reason, Ninten was the unspoken leader of this group of dumbasses. He supposed this was his life now.

“Ana, you’ve got the flower side of things covered, right?” Ninten asked.

Ana grinned and offered him a thumbs up.

“Teddy, you’re on music again. Their tastes are a little different from what’s typical for a wedding, but you can handle it.”

Teddy nodded. He took the sheet of paper Ninten handed him.

“Lloyd, you’re coming with me to arrange a cake tasting.”

Lloyd nodded, processed what he had just said, then balked. “What? Why me? Don’t I usually do logistics?”

“Because I’ll be lonely.” Ninten paused. “Also, the baker sounds scary, and I don’t want to talk to him alone.”

“... Ninten, are you afraid of the—”

“No!”

Ana and Teddy started laughing.

If Ninten knew he would be seated at a shitty round table with his co-workers and being teased by some nerd in glasses, he would’ve quit the moment he signed his contract with that first wedding planning company. Instead, all he could do was sigh and remind himself that their uniting force was love, not rage. “Shut up, Lloyd. We’re leaving at eight o’clock sharp, so finish whatever you need to by then.”

Lloyd opened his mouth to retort, then frowned. “Wait, that’s seriously the only assignments you’re giving us? You’re just gonna plan the rest of the wedding yourself?”

“Yeah? I don’t see the problem here.”

His friends exchanged disappointed glances.

“Ninten,” Ana sighed, “I know this wedding is really important to you, but for once, I would like you to stop taking on so much work.”

_ Ah, shit, here we go again, _ Ninten thought to himself. He took a deep breath, reminding himself they were just worried. “It’s okay. I’m not as bad as before.”

Teddy furrowed his eyebrows. “Kid, you may not be going days without sleep, but I’ve never seen you leave the office. Ever.”

“Don’t call me kid.”

“When’s the last time you actually went out to eat with us without having to leave because of a call? Do you not have off-hours?”

“Last time I came over to your apartment, I woke up to you being called by a client at four in the morning,” Lloyd added.

Even Ana threw her own experience into the ring with, “Sometimes when I walk in during the morning, you’re already working. I would like for there to at least be some buffer time.”

“Okay, I get it!” Ninten said, rolling his eyes. “I get that you’re worried about me, so I guess I’ll just… not work as much.”

“Promise?”

“I’ll try.”

It wasn’t quite the answer they were looking for, but they nodded anyway and dispersed to complete their tasks for the day.

Ninten sighed and began to walk to his own office.

Since when did it become a crime to love love?

 

* * *

“Why did you come with me of all people?” Lloyd asked. “If you were really afraid for your life, you would’ve brought Teddy with you, not this weak noodle.”

Ninten resisted the urge to glare at him in favor of keeping his eyes on the road. “Lloyd, I love you.”

“You only ever say that if something bad’s about to happen.”

“Get out.”

“Wow, rude.”

“No, I mean we’re here. I already paid for the meter online. Get out of my car.”

Lloyd shrugged and exited the car.

According to the text updates he received while he was driving (courtesy of Lloyd stealing his phone and reading his texts out loud), Ana already had a florist willing to dump a truckload of sunflowers into a wedding. The exact arrangements would take some coordinating with Lucas and the florist later. Teddy was having trouble finding music for the wedding, though he said he was closing in on some specific games. If his co-workers weren’t too bothered, Ninten shouldn’t be either, right?

Ninten took a deep breath and exited the car.

The bakery, Hometown, had a sunflower theme in its name, the “o”s in the name being replaced by sunflowers. From what Ninten could see through the translucent glass, a few people were already inside, enjoying some kind of baked good he couldn’t make out from the distance. The opening hours were listed on the door.

… What the fuck kind of bakery stayed open until two in the morning?

“Ninten?”

Ninten grinned at Lloyd, then fixed a polite smile on his face and walked inside.

Hometown definitely felt like one, the wooden floors and natural colors giving it a rustic atmosphere. Tables were set out for some guests, though the right wall was reserved for packaged baked goods, and a cake display cabinet was placed at the front right next to the register. A door was behind the counters, presumably leading to their work room. An orange-haired man stood at the register, wiping down the counters.

Ninten approached the man. “Excuse me, could we please speak to…” Fuck. He forgot the name.

Lloyd elbowed him.

“Claus?”

The man quirked an eyebrow and gave them an amused smile. “You’re speaking to him.”

They weren’t three sentences into the conversation, and Ninten had already fucked up. This was going to be a great conversation.

But if there was one thing Ninten gained from his years as a wedding planner, it was an unfaltering poker face in the face of embarrassment. Ninten’s polite smile persisted. “I’m Ninten, the wedding planner for Lucas and Ness’s wedding. This is Lloyd, my associate.”

Lloyd’s hand trembled at the last word. That fucker was trying not to laugh.

“Lucas told us he arranged for you to make the cake, right?”

With the mention of Lucas’s name, Claus’s expression turned more wary, serious. He eyed the two before nodding and inviting them past the counter and into the work room.

The work room was surprisingly neat for a bakery. The majority of the things in the room were colored silver, and there were some white spots on the floor from stray bits of flour (or sugar. Or baking soda. It could have been cocaine, for all Ninten knew about baking). A few employees remained, chatting as they continued their work.

“Miss Marshmallow,” Claus called, “clean up and take over the register for me. I’m meeting with clients.”

Ninten and Lloyd exchanged a perplexed look. Miss Marshmallow? Was that supposed to be a nickname?

Whoever Miss Marshmallow was agreed and passed them on her way to the bathroom to clean up. The other employee, a man with spiky brown hair, locked eyes with them and nodded, confirming that yes, her name was indeed Marshmallow.

Weird, but Ninten was in no place to judge. He followed Claus to a table with more flour dusted onto it, holding back a chuckle upon seeing him frantically dust it off and gesture to two chairs.

“Take a seat,” Claus said, “I suspect this will be a long conversation.”

That wasn’t a good sign. Ninten sat down anyway, as did Lloyd. Claus sat across from them.

“Well, Lucas didn’t tell me anything,” Claus said, “What do you need?”

Ninten internally sighed at the memory of Ness’s eyes lighting up as he described all the flavors he wanted in a cake, then the light dying away when Lucas said he needed to have a sensible cake. Leaving all food decisions to Ness was a horrible idea. “I saw on your business card you do wedding cake tastings. I would like to arrange a meeting for that sometime in the next three months. Designs can be decided after the tasting when we have other aspects of the wedding decided. If you would like to consult other—”

Lloyd kicked him underneath the table. “Our client has informed us the first priority is the cake tasting. How do you conduct those?”

Ah, corporate-speak rambling. The worst kind of rambling.

Claus rolled his eyes. “First of all, you can drop it with the polite talk. This is Hometown, I’m not gonna talk with you if you’re acting like you’re in an office.”

Finally, something Ninten was grateful for. He ignored the burning pain in his ankle and nodded.

“Second, cake tastings here have all the flavors we usually make for cakes. We just reserve a table for our clients and give them a plate of small, cubed cakes. Nothing too fancy.”

“And when can we arrange this?” 

“For my brother? Anytime. I’m always happy to see him.”

Oh. Well, that was unexpected. There was just one problem…

Ninten struggled to keep his gaze level. “I hate to say this, but during our briefing on this, Lucas said he didn’t want to attend the cake tasting.”

Claus’s face blanked. Never a good sign. “I’m sorry, what?”

“He expressed he didn’t have any preference to the food catered at the wedding, including the cake.” Was it a bit of a faux pas to switch to formal language after Claus had told him not to use it? Maybe, but in Ninten’s opinion, not being murdered on the spot was far more important than any person thinking him as tactless.

“What the hell? He can’t just not come to his own—I’ll talk to him. Contact me later.”

Ninten frowned. “I will speak to the client, and I’ll contact  _ you _ later. Please leave this to me.”

Claus leveled a suspicious look at him before sighing. “Fine, whatever. You have my contact info. Get out.”

Well, that was all the prompting Ninten needed. He grabbed Lloyd’s hand and yanked him out of his chair, hurrying out of the bakery. The two stood in front of the bakery on the sidewalk, staring blankly ahead.

Lloyd cleared his throat after a moment of silence. “So, that happened.”

Ninten nodded. “That happened.”

“Wanna go back to the office?”

“Hell yes. Let’s get outta here.”

The two boarded Ninten’s car again and drove off, unsure of what to make of the entire experience.

 

* * *

“Ninten, I don’t know how to tell you I literally don’t care about what gets served.”

Ninten leaned back in his office chair, taking in a deep breath. “I’m aware of that, Lucas. Turns out the baker isn’t.”

Lucas sighed. “Why is he like this?”

_ Great question. _

The two had been on the phone for fifteen minutes now, going back and forth about how to proceed. While Ninten knew there was always at least one person in the family who threw a wrench in his plans, this one was proving to be difficult, considering he was also to be the baker for the wedding. There was only one solution to this.

“Lucas,” Ninten said, “Can you just come to the tasting? You can leave the decision-making to Ness like you planned. You just have to come.”

Lucas paused before saying, “Actually, that would be okay.”

“Great. I’ll schedule everything.”

“And this is a bit of a weird request, but, um… Could you come with us? I know I’ll like everything, but Ness will probably freak out over having to choose between so many flavors.”

“That’s not weird at all. I’ll be sure to communicate that.”

“Thank you so much! Have a good rest of your day, Ninten.”

“You, too.”

Lucas hung up the phone, leaving Ninten to think in his office.

Wait, did he just agree to go to a cake tasting where the baker was someone who literally told him to get out of his bakery?

Fuck.

 

* * *

Being back in the bakery was awkward, even after Claus was notified of a third person coming. Lucas and Ness sat across from each other at a table, quietly talking to themselves. Meanwhile, Ninten stood nearby with his note-taking app open on his phone, waiting for the event to start.

Eventually, Claus emerged from the work room and set a tray of cake cubes down on their table. “We have, like, two thousand more of these cubes. Just ask if you need more.”

“Thanks, Claus,” Lucas said, to which Claus met with a bright smile.

The smile was replaced with an apathetic frown when Ness thanked him. Claus turned away, turning his attention to wiping down a clean table.

Ninten watched, his expression positively unamused judging by the apologetic look Lucas sent him.

He knew exactly how this would go; he had seen it too many times not to notice. It was always a bride’s family member that became a control freak and tried to micromanage the wedding. While it was a groom’s brother in this case, it didn’t change the chain of fuckery that would happen if he didn’t step over his lines as a wedding planner and nip this in the bud right now.

Ninten took a deep breath, looked at Claus, and said, “Don’t be a dick.”

That was not what he meant to say. That was the opposite of what he meant to say.

Ninten could practically hear the record scratch in the background as everyone stiffened, including himself. While Lucas’s horrified face and Ness obviously trying to hold back his laughter could win awards by themselves, what truly took the cake was Claus’s stare on him switching emotions every split second, from shock to anger to somewhat impressed. Eventually, he settled on a surprised, curious expression.

Honestly, Ninten didn’t know what to be less proud of: running his mouth again like an idiot or making a pun to himself in such an awkward situation.

“The cake’s great, right?” Lucas said in one breath.

Ness nodded frantically. “Yeah, it’s wonderful!”

Ninten buried his face into his phone, hoping texting his co-workers about his predicament would be enough to distract him from his shattering poker face. But he wasn’t thrown out or yelled at, so that must have been a good sign…?

An hour had passed, and Claus’s glares in Ness’s direction had turned into curious glances at Ninten. He hadn’t spoken a word since Ninten blurted out the wrong thing.

Finally, Lucas and Ness split the last cube of a yellowish-brown cake and chewed on it thoughtfully.

Ness’s face brightened. “What’s this flavor?”

Lucas turned to Claus, anticipating his reaction more than his answer.

“... Banana bread,” Claus finally said, “It was a recipe our mom taught us. I don’t even know why I made it for this tasting.”

“Do you like it?” Lucas asked, his smile more relaxed.

Ness grinned back. “Like it? I love it! Let’s have this flavor for our wedding cake.”

Ness actually being certain about which food flavor was the best? Ninten looked around, but the apocalypse wasn’t happening.

“We can do that,” Lucas said. He turned back to Claus. “Claus, could you make that? I know it’s a bit unconventional, but…”

Claus looked as if they had just asked him to staple himself to a tree, and Ninten bit back a laugh. “You… You want a banana bread wedding cake?” He paused, then nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. How do you feel about cream cheese frosting?”

“I’m fine with that. Ness?”

“I would love that,” Ness said.

Ninten typed something down on his phone. “So it’s a definite yes for banana bread cake?”

Lucas and Ness exchanged a glance before nodding enthusiastically.

After a few more clarifications on the flavors, their cake tasting was over. Ness and Lucas joined Ninten outside as they continued to talk over what cake they would like.

Ninten typed down notes on his phone, happy he had escaped with his life.

 

* * *

Ninten, as someone who has been screamed at too many times to count by people he barely knew, considered himself an expert at apologizing. But now that he faced Claus’s judgemental glare and had entered the bakery when there happened to be more than two people in it, he wasn’t so sure about that.

“I, uh…” Ninten cleared his tightening throat. Best to rip the bandage off quickly. “Sorry for being an asshole the other day. That really… That really went beyond what I should have done as a wedding planner.”

“Are you dumb?”

“Kind of, yeah.”

“No, not about that,” Claus said, his eyebrows furrowed. “All you did was call me out on my bullshit. Lucas has been doing that since we were born, so this is nothing. We’re good.”

Ninten hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I can always respect someone who voices their opinions out loud. Now, did you actually have business to conduct or are you just wasting my time?”

“The latter.”

“Come bother me when it’s not busy.”

“Fine, fine. Bye.” Ninten stepped back from the cash register, allowing another person to take his place. He left the bakery before his grin could escape.

Somebody didn’t hate him. That was always a relief.

Then he repeated Claus’s last words to him in his mind and stopped on the sidewalk.

… Was that an invitation to come back for reasons outside of business?

 

* * *

“Ness said he didn’t want fondant on any part of the cake,” Ninten said, “and I agree with him. Fondant is fucking nasty.”

Claus glared at the table for a moment before catching himself and relaxing his frown. “Understandable. Considering the type of person he is, I’m assuming he doesn’t want any inedible things on it like actual flowers.”

“Flowers are not inedible to Ness.”

“... I’m sorry, what?”

“Nothing.” Ninten took another sip from his cup of coffee, holding back a laugh at Claus’s confused (horrified?) face. “And yes, he doesn’t want anything inedible on it.”

Claus’s stare on him remained for a bit longer before he shook his head and moved onto another question.

 

* * *

“Ness suggested this design,” Ninten said, passing over a slip of paper.

Claus took the slip and laughed upon seeing it. “Are you sure Lucas didn’t suggest this? It looks like something he would draw.”

“Do I look like I know everything about them?”

“Yes.”

Ninten snorted and rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable. But that’s the design they would like. Can you do it?”

“Of course.” Claus took a closer look at the design. “I can probably just make the flowers with sugar. I don’t know whether to use dyed frosting for the leaves or just make them with sugar too, though.”

“Would you like me to ask the clients?”

“I told you to drop the corporate language around me, didn’t I?”

“Would you like me to ask those dopey idiots?”

“Yes, please.”

They stared at each other for a moment before laughing.

 

* * *

“Ninten, are you crying?”

“No,” Ninten said, wiping his tears away as he watched the bride and groom share their first dance as a married couple. “But I would like to tell you that I love both of you.”

Ana giggled while Lloyd patted his shoulder.

“We love you, too,” Ana said. Her eyes widened. “Please tell me you brought an extra candle.”

Ninten furrowed his eyebrows. “I did. Why?”

“Uh.” She pointed in the direction of the trouble.

“... Oh, shit.”

 

* * *

Well, that was probably the most stressful wedding of Ninten’s life.

Ninten walked out of the venue and into his car with Lloyd, both unsure of how to process what exactly had happened. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. First, a drunk guest had knocked over a candle that couldn’t be relit. Ninten happened to carry an emergency candle with him, but he couldn’t do anything about the tablecloth being set on fire. Then a powerline had gone down somewhere in the city, rendering the entire wedding ruined. Ninten didn’t think things could get worse from that point on, but it did, and now he was kicked out of a wedding he planned.

Somebody sniffled in the passenger seat.

“Lloyd,” Ninten called softly, “None of this was your fault.”

More sniffling.

“Lloyd.”

“I-I know it wasn’t,” Lloyd said, taking off his glasses to wipe his eyes. “It was just… really overwhelming. I hate to say it, but this is the kind of thing that makes me wish I never went into wedding planning.”

Ninten reached over and grabbed his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He wasn’t sure who needed it more.

“Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“I mean, I’m the one who had to use his inhaler in the middle of a wedding from the smoke. I’d say you’re far from pathetic.”

“Well, I don’t think you’re pathetic either. You kept going after that. It wasn’t something you could help, either.”

“Neither was anything that happened,” Ninten said. “Don’t worry about it. The bride said she already had a wedding in the groom’s home country. She and the groom are more mad at their families for blowing up at us.”

Lloyd straightened his back. “Oh, shit, I forgot about them. You should probably start driving before they start throwing rocks at us.”

“Where to?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere but here.”

Ninten started pulling out of the parking lot. “We didn’t get to eat dinner before all that shit started happening. Wanna go for food?”

Lloyd scoffed. “What place is open at one in the morning?”

“Lloyd, we’re both wedding planners. Tell me what you’re feeling. How about Chinese?”

“Nah.”

“Mexican?”

“Nope.”

“Burgers?”

“There’s no places open.”

Ninten paused, remembering the schedule outside Hometown’s door. “How about some bread?”

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrowed. “Sure, but where in the world would we find an open bakery at this time? They all close early.”

“Remember that bakery we went to for Ness and Lucas’s wedding?”

“... You seriously want to go back there?”

“I mean, it’s bread.”

Lloyd shook his head fondly. “You’re too brave for your own good, Ninten. Just get me my usual coffee order. I’ll be staying in here.”

“You’re drinking coffee at one in the morning?”

“You say that like I didn’t catch you eating a bunch of baby carrots in the middle of the night at the office.”

“Touche,” Ninten mused. He drove off, ignoring the sounds of chaos he left behind him like he was driving on the highway from hell.

 

* * *

“Welcome to—What the fuck? Why are you here? Do you know what time it is?”

“Nice to see you, too, Claus,” Ninten mumbled. He gave him a weak salute and smile. “I could ask you why the fuck your bakery stays open so late.”

Claus looked him up and down, noting the ruffled tuxedo he wore and the puffiness of his eyes. For a moment, Ninten thought he almost looked concerned. “You look like you just got back from hell. What happened?”

“Uh, candle got knocked over, entire tablecloth was set on fire, couldn’t help with the situation since I was too busy dying a little, then the blackout happened in that specific part of town, and my friend and I were kicked out of the wedding we planned. Nothing unusual.”

“Yeah, I heard about the blackout from Lucas. His apartment doesn’t have power right now.” He frowned. “And you could’ve started with the wedding part. I was confused until you mentioned that.”

“What fun would that be?” Ninten sighed. “Listen, can I just get two black coffees and whatever kind of food you have at hell hour? We didn’t exactly get to eat dinner after all that happened…”

Right after those words left his mouth, Claus shoved a paper bag at him. “Just take it. Your coffee should be ready in a few minutes.”

Ninten took the bag and opened it, only to find it filled with biscuits. He looked back up. “Since when did you guys sell biscuits?”

“Since when did you know our entire menu?” Claus shouted from the open work room.

“Since never.”

“There’s your answer. We’re testing out a new recipe.”

Ninten’s gaze drifted to the menu written in chalk on boards hanging above the counter. Biscuits were listed as a classic. Claus was a horrible liar.

“How can I be sure you didn’t poison it?” Ninten asked.

“Why would I ever waste poison on you?”

“That sounds like something someone who poisoned something would say.”

Then Claus stomped out of the work room, took a biscuit from the bag, and stuffed it into his mouth. He held up a middle finger before retreating back into the room.

Well. That settled  _ that  _ question.

Some time passed before he emerged from the room with two coffee containers in hand. He held them out to Ninten. “Here. Now, get out.”

Ninten accepted the drinks, then set them down on the counter to dig through his wallet. “Yeah, yeah. How much is it?”

“Nothing, since the coffee’s dirt cheap and we weren’t planning on selling the biscuits anyway. Just come back and tell us what you think of it.”

“Bullshit.” Ninten pulled out two twenty dollar bills then set it on the counter. He took the coffee in both his hands before Claus could hand it back to him. “Nice try, but silly me, I don’t have enough hands to take it back. Looks like you’ll have to hold onto it.” He snickered at the scene of Claus trying to bite back a smile at the joke. “I’m leaving. Goodnight.”

“You know that I’m just gonna hand this to you next time we meet, right?” Claus called as he walked out the door.

Ninten ignored him and headed back to his car. He stopped by the window of the passenger seat.

Lloyd rolled the window down and accepted the coffee. “Congratulations on being alive.”

“I’m not,” Ninten said before entering his car. He closed the door behind him and handed the bag to Lloyd. “You’re staying over at my place tonight. Hold onto this, it’s dinner.” He placed his coffee cup in the cup holder before starting to drive off.

“Wow, it’s warm.” Lloyd looked into the bag, then back at Ninten. “Buddy, that’s twelve biscuits in there. How much did this cost?”

An entire baker’s dozen and freshly warm. Claus was full of shit.

“I have no idea,” Ninten said.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

Ninten shrugged, and that was the end of that conversation.

A rustle indicated Lloyd was already digging into one of the biscuits, and Ninten wouldn’t have had a problem with that if Lloyd hadn’t chosen to hold a biscuit to Ninten’s mouth.

“It’s good, try it,” Lloyd said.

“Lloyd, I’m trying to drive.”

“Do I look like I care? Crash us, I don’t care. I know you won’t eat when you get home, so this is the best it gets.”

Ninten couldn’t even roll his eyes. He kept his eyes glued to the road, then leaned forward to take a bite out of the biscuit.

Huh. It was good.

 

* * *

“Ninten!” Ana called, stepping into his office with a smile and a card. “Remember that couple from three years ago with the ferret at their wedding?”

Boy, did he remember. He nodded.

“Today’s their anniversary. They sent us a postcard. Would you like to take a look?”

Ninten scrambled out of his chair and stumbled on his way to see the postcard. He ignored Ana’s giggle. “I guess I can spare a second.”

Ana smiled. “You really love seeing happy couples, don’t you?”

“You love love, too. Don’t even try lying.”

“Yeah. I guess I do.”

He needed to work harder, but the unamused look Ana sent his way told him he wasn’t as good at hiding his thought pattern as he thought he was.

 

* * *

“So,” Teddy started, fidgeting in his chair across from Ninten. “I got a deal with the Runaway Five for Ness and Lucas’s wedding.”

It took a moment for Ninten to process what he had just said. He looked at Teddy with a blank face. “Get out of my office.”

“No, really. It’s free of charge.”

“What the fuck kind of bullshit did you pull?”

“No bullshit. They just said they owed Ness a favor.”

Ninten searched through his memories for any kind of world-saving Ness had done but found nothing. He supposed he just had to accept it. “Are you gonna book them?”

Teddy raised an eyebrow. “Kid, are you dumb? It’s the Runaway Five, of course I am. But clear it with Ness and Lucas first.”

“Don’t call me kid. And I’ll text you after I call them.”

Teddy gave him a thumbs up before exiting his office.

Well. That was one part of the wedding sorted out.

 

* * *

“Oh, the Runaway Five!” Ness laughed. “Oh, man, I miss them. I should probably give them a call sooner or later.”

Lucas’s silence told Ninten everything he needed to know about how much Lucas knew about this.

“Ness,” Ninten said, “What kind of soul-promising shit did you do to get the Runaway Five of all people to know you well enough to play for free at your wedding?”

“Well, it was more like a series of things. The first time I ran across them, I just helped them out with a flat tire. Next thing you know, they’re stuck in debt and someone Paula knew just happened to give us, like, ten thousand dollars—”

“What the fuck?”

“—then they got stuck in debt  _ again, _ but it just so happened in the desert on the way to Fourside, I gave my sandwich to some construction worker. He found a diamond and gave it to me, so then I used it to pay off their debt. Nothing too special.”

If it was anyone else, Ninten would’ve called bullshit. But no. Here he was, listening to Ness relay the stupidest story ever in a nonchalant voice like he explained this every day.

“When was this?” Lucas asked.

Ness took a moment to think. “Um… maybe three years ago? It was when I went on that road trip with Paula, Jeff, and Poo.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me any of this when I asked you how it was going?”

“I didn’t think it was important.”

_ Ness, you absolute idiot, _ Ninten thought.

Lucas’s voice came out incredulous. “You didn’t… think it was important.” He burst out laughing.

Ness’s laughter joined his. “I really didn’t think so! Now that I look back at it, I probably should’ve said something.”

“Ness,  _ oh my god—” _

“I’m booking the Runaway Five,” Ninten said. “Is that okay?”

There was a “yes” somewhere between their hysterical laughter.

Ninten hung up, took one look at Ness’s dopey contact picture, then burst out laughing himself.

 

* * *

“Lily of the valley, some grasses, and of course, sunflowers at the center. Simple, yet radiant,” Ana said, grinning while she listed out all the flowers in the image she showed Ninten on her phone. “Doesn’t that just look stunning?”

Ninten raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair. “Aren’t lilies of the valley poisonous?”

“Well, thank god there won’t be any children at this wedding.”

“You really think Ness wouldn’t pop a flower into his mouth with no hesitation?”

Ana pouted and scrolled to another picture. “Fine. Here’s another arrangement that’s not poisonous. Yellow roses, delphinium—”

“Ana, they’re toxic, too.”

She huffed, scrolling to yet another picture. “Red matsumoto asters, orange carnations, some greenery, and sunflowers at the center. Are you happy now?”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll send the picture to Ness and Lucas.”

“I’m glad you see it my way.”

“And I’m glad you didn’t include toxic flowers in the arrangement.”

Floral arrangement down, only a billion other things to go. Ninten couldn’t wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Music was an essential part of any wedding, something Ninten had learned from complaints from his classmates in college about tiring wedding gigs and from the dread in his stomach after seeing a song not be a hit with the audience at a wedding. The pressure was turned up to high when he remembered the fact this was for his best friend and his fiance.

“This playlist is missing something,” Ninten said, reading his way down the list of songs Teddy had handed to him.

Teddy snickered. “What, your music education's finally coming in handy now?”

“Shut up, Teddy. Let me think.” Ninten ignored the presumably snarky remark Teddy made about him never thinking. 

They wanted funky, eight-bit music, something the Runaway Five could provide. But they still wanted to have a romantic first dance, and the band had never thought to come up with something romantic while composing music. On top of that, the music didn’t sound homey enough to Ninten. It wouldn’t remind Lucas of home at all. Even with all his experience with music, he couldn’t think of any song that would satisfy the requirements. Ninten would either have to scour the Internet for another composition or make it himself.

… He could totally make it himself.

“Teddy,” Ninten called, “Check to see if the Runaway Five are willing to learn someone else’s composition.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re about to do anything stupid.”

“Everything I do is stupid. You should be alarmed when something I do is smart.”

Teddy shook his head. “I’ll send them an email. I should get a response this week, so keep your eyes peeled for that.”

Ninten nodded, already brainstorming and regretting his decision.

 

* * *

“What was your hometown like?”

Claus stared at him as he walked into the bakery. “Ninten, it’s midnight, and that’s the first thing you say to me when you walk in?”

Indeed, it was midnight. The streets were pitch black with the exception of lampposts and the bright lights of the cars driving past. A select few other stores were open as well, though their lighting wasn’t nearly as bright as the bakery’s. Clearly, it was the perfect time to bother him.

“I came here for nothing else,” Ninten said. He pulled out a chair and prepared to type away at his phone. “Nobody’s here right now. Unless you’re busy, in which case I can come back in an hour or so.”

“Why did you choose this time to come in?”

Ninten shrugged. He was too tired to do anything else. “Hometown. Now.”

“What do you even need this for?” Claus asked, seating himself across from Ninten.

“It’s for the wedding. Trust me on this.”

“I don’t trust you with anything, but okay.” He took a moment to think. “Well, first, you should probably know Lucas and I grew up in the Nowhere Islands.”

Ninten had never even heard of that place before, but okay. If Claus didn’t look completely serious, he would think he was bullshitting him.

“It was always happy. People would always walk around with a bounce in their step as they went about their daily business. From what I remember, there were rarely any rainy days and the other villagers always helped each other out.”

“Sounds like a utopia, to be honest.”

“It was. It all kind of went downhill after the town’s first tragedy, but that’s probably what you need to know about our hometown.”

Ninten hesitated. “First tragedy…?”

“Lucas didn’t tell you? Our mom died when we were ten.”

The news hit him like the truck, and he felt he understood more about Claus than he ever had before. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “It was eighteen years ago, it’s fine.”

How did one transition from something like that to the stupid project Ninten had taken on? Ninten finished typing his notes, then asked, “Did you guys play any music?”

Claus leaned back in his chair, chuckling. “Actually, our other friend played guitar, then switched to electric guitar when that became a thing. And another one of our friends played bass with the DCMC.”

“... Tonda gossa.”

Claus snickered. “I see you’re familiar with them.”

“Just wasn’t expecting that.” Ninten paused. “What about your family?”

“Lucas played keytar for a little bit.”

Ninten grinned. “No way. Lucas with keytar?”

He had to admit the image of Lucas, the least likely person to be associated with a rock band he knew, headbanging to keytar was a funny thought. It seemed implausible, but Claus had no reason to lie.

“He was actually pretty good. And our dad played saxophone, so imagine this tall, cowboy-looking man blaring saxophone in the middle of the night. He never played in the middle of the night, but imagine if he did.”

Ninten couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his mouth. He recovered back to the grin he wore before. “What about you?”

“Me? Why do you ask?”

“I mean, if Lucas played keytar and your dad played saxophone, I can only imagine what cursed instrument you would play.”

Claus smirked. “Sitar.”

“... You played sitar?” Ninten asked.

“It’s okay, not many people know what it is.”

“I minored in music, you asshole, I know what it is. I’m just trying to think of why anyone in their right minds would ever choose to play sitar as an instrument.”

Claus gasped, then held a hand to his heart. “You’re insulting my instrument? Like you have a better one.”

“I, um…” Ninten hated to admit it, but Claus was right; both the ocarina and sitar were pretty far up on the list of obscure instruments people tended to ignore in compositions. “That’s not important.”

“Yes, it is. If you minored in music, you must’ve played something.” Claus squinted at him. “You look like you were some sort of prodigy. Violin?”

“No.”

“Cello?”

“Not even close.”

“Flute?”

“... Closer. Ocarina.”

Claus burst out laughing.

Ninten huffed. “Hey! At least my instrument got a sick ass game named after it.”

“Yeah, but at least I don’t play ocarina.”

“Bitch, I got accepted into music school. Can you even pluck a sitar string properly?”

“Actually, yes, I can.”

“Prove it.”

“I… don’t have my sitar on me right now,” Claus said, “but I’ll definitely show you up next time. You’re going down, punk.”

Ninten scoffed. “I’d like to see you try.”

Then it occurred to him he already had all the information he needed about their hometown. In fact, he had all the information he needed in the first five minutes of their impromptu meeting. He had a wedding he needed to attend at six in the morning; he probably shouldn’t be chatting up his local baker at… twelve forty-five in the morning. God, he had been here for that long?

“I should probably leave now,” Ninten said, standing up from his chair. “Thanks for the info.”

Claus stood up as well. “Hey, no problem. Just remember to bring your ocarina next time you decide to ambush me at midnight.”

Ninten saluted him, gave him one last smile, and walked out of the bakery.

That was nice. Just sitting and talking with Claus felt… nice.

 

* * *

“So this is the venue we were thinking of using for the ceremony.”

Ness and Lucas’s eyes shimmered in amazement as they took in their surroundings.

The venue was an indoor garden encased in a dome of glass. A white wedding arch with flowers wrapped around it stood at the back. Some of the cases holding the glass in place had been grown over by vines. On the ground, two columns of benches were placed facing the wedding arch. The aisle was lined with bushes and colorful flowers.

“I love it,” Lucas whispered. “What do you think?”

Ness smiled and dropped a kiss on Lucas’s cheek. “I think it’s perfect.”

Ninten couldn’t help the dopey smile that came to his own face. He looked away, making a note to set up a meeting with the venue owners. “We’re not even done yet. The reception venue is just a walk away.”

Ness and Lucas exchanged a glance before following Ninten out of the dome and into another building just a five-minute walk away.

It was a fenced-in field. The grass was short. Some weeds growing hadn’t been plucked yet. It was the most basic, imperfect venue Ninten could have thought of.

They didn’t need to deliberate; they took one look at the venue and nodded.

Yet it was perfect for them, and therefore the venue was perfect.

 

* * *

“I brought my ocari—” Ninten cut himself off upon seeing a few people (the same two employees he had seen at their first meeting, he noted) still remaining in the bakery stare at him like he had walked in suited in full body armor. Embarrassment rushed over him when Claus slapped his palm against his forehead. “Uh… I’ll come back later.”

“No need for that,” Claus grumbled.

“Oh, really?”

Claus disappeared into the work room, and Ninten took the hint to follow. He shut the door when Ninten walked in, his face pink. “Those were my employees, you dumbass. I have a reputation to keep. And can you give a guy some prior notice? I would’ve brought my sitar if I knew you would come.”

Ninten handed him some pages of sheet music. “Read this. The melody line got cut off when I printed it, so I decided I would play it.”

“Well, that’s certainly one way to get around that problem. Other, sane people would have just, I don’t know, written it back in.”

“Your first mistake was assuming I’m sane.”

“Right. Just play.”

Ninten held the mouthpiece of his ocarina to his lips and played the top note of the first three chords, holding them for as long as he could. After holding the last chord, he switched to the baseline, then to the melody after the appropriate number of measures had passed. Only a minute had passed, but it felt like an eternity. When he finished, he set the ocarina down on his lap.

Claus prolonged the moment of silence before sliding the sheet music back to him. “I’d add in a drum beat to liven it up a little. But other than that, it reminds me of our hometown. And if you manage to make it sound eight-bit… I think they’ll both really love it.”

Ninten couldn’t help the grin that came to his face. “Really? I’ll go get started on that beat right now. Thanks for the feedback.”

“It’s literally midnight, go to sleep.”

“You can’t tell me what to do.” Ninten walked out of the work room, only to see the employees he had seen earlier give him an amused look. He shot them a peace sign then walked out of the bakery.

 

* * *

“You’re really dedicated to this, aren’t you?”

Ninten looked up from his table, guilt washing over him upon seeing it was past the bakery’s closing time. “Oh, shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to stay for so—”

“It’s fine, I don’t mind,” Claus said. He sat down next to Ninten, looking at the computer screen. “Could I hear what you have so far?”

Ninten still didn’t feel it was right to stay for so long, but he guessed this was more important than sleep. He clicked on the play button.

Music floated in the silent room, beginning with three tender chords. A cymbal led into the peppy baseline. The percussion part joined in a few measures later, then a guitar chord played. The melody followed soon after and was joined by the harmony. The song ended after a few minutes, though a note from Ninten indicated it was to be repeated for as many times as necessary.

Claus smiled when the song faded out. “Sounds just like our hometown.” He turned to Ninten, tilting his head at the dazed expression on his face. “What’s up?”

Ninten hummed in thought. “This is only one song I have to compose.”

“What’s the other one about? Ness’s hometown?”

“Nah, we’ve got a song for that already. It’s about, um…” Ninten frowned. How should he describe this to someone he wasn’t sure if he was friends with? “Basically, the Runaway Five didn’t have a romantic song they could have their first dance to, so I’m composing it. The problem is I haven’t been in a relationship since I started working in the wedding industry.”

“You can’t ask someone else to compose it?”

“I don’t really trust anyone else to write it properly.”

Claus shot him an unamused expression. “Really? You’re a control freak?”

“... Little bit.”

They sat in thought, the room silent. If Ninten wouldn’t pass the assignment off to someone else but wanted his writing to be authentic…

“I have an idea,” Claus said. “Why don’t you just, like, pretend to date your friends or something?”

“... I’m sorry, what?”

“I mean, if you’re having trouble wrapping your head around romance and you don’t want to ask Ness or Lucas about it, you should just go on a few dates with your friends. I don’t see the problem here.”

As much as Ninten would have loved to slam his laptop shut and call it a night, it wasn’t that bad of an idea. If they rejected him, no feelings were hurt and nothing changed. If they accepted, they would have fun. There were no downsides to this.

“I guess I’ll try that out,” Ninten sighed, glaring at Claus’s smirk. He shut his laptop down and headed out towards the door. “Goodnight, Claus.”

Claus waved him a goodnight.

 

* * *

“Ninten, I swear to god, you’re actually insane.”

“Insane for you” probably wasn’t the correct answer, judging by the exasperated glare Lloyd gave him.

“Why me?” Lloyd sighed. “Can’t you pick someone else?” He gestured towards their co-workers. “And can you not have done this in the conference room?”

Ana and Teddy laughed. They had been laughing since Ninten burst into the conference room five minutes late and shouted, “Lloyd, you need to fake-date me!” Fucking traitors, both of them.

“Well, Ana already has a husband, and Teddy has a girlfriend,” Ninten said, “and everyone else would rat me out.”

Ana raised an eyebrow. “Ninten, do you really not have that many friends?”

“I… no.” And now he was sad. Thanks, Ana.

“If Lloyd won’t man up and take the fall, why not just ask Claus?” Teddy asked.

“You phrase that like I’m not worth dating. Is that what you’re trying to say, Teddy? Huh?”

“Don’t deflect at me. Wasn’t he the one who brought up the idea in the first place? Just ask him.”

Ninten made a face at his laughing friends.

Technically, Teddy was right; if Lloyd didn’t want to pretend to date him, there was nothing he could do about that. The next best person he could ask was Claus. There was always the chance something would slip to his brother, but he seemed onboard with the whole “surprise your friends with a super cheesy song” scheme. He was almost excited about it.

“If I piss him off again, I’m blaming all three of you,” Ninten groaned, setting his head down on the table.

Ana laughed again and placed her coat around his shoulders. “Goodnight, Ninten. You’re gonna need it for your midnight trip.”

“It’s literally nine o’clock, but go off, I guess.”

“Oh, shit, it is? I’ve gotta get to a wedding!” Teddy rocketed out of his chair and outside the conference room.

Ana pouted. “He didn’t even say goodbye.”

Ninten drifted to sleep as Ana and Lloyd discussed their plans for the day.

 

* * *

“Date me, coward.”

“What the fuck?”

The same set of employees burst into laughter as Claus’s face reddened and sputters escaped his mouth instead of words.

Whatever. Ninten was too tired to deal with this. “My friends wouldn’t agree to going on dates with me, and you’re the only option I have left.”

With that explanation, Claus took a deep breath, the blush on his face receding. “You have to stop saying stupid shit as soon as you walk into my shop.”

“Nah, sorry.”

“... You really can’t just ask Ness and Lucas about their relationship?”

“I did. But they aren’t the ones writing this composition, are they?”

Claus sighed. “Fine, I’ll go on a pity-date with you.” His employees’ laughter crescendoed, and he whipped around to them and snapped, “Shut up!”

Ninten tsked when they didn’t stop. “Man, being disrespectful to your employees? I don’t think I like that about my boyfriend.”

“Get out.”

“And being disrespectful to your date? This relationship might not work.” He grinned when Claus’s face flushed.

“I have an hour of work left,” Claus murmured, “I’ll text you about it later. You have my number, right?”

“Uh… I have your business number.”

“Give me your phone.”

Ninten opened the contacts in his phone and created a new one for Claus before handing it to him. He took his phone back with a bright smile and sudden alertness for someone at one in the morning. “Thanks,  _ darling.” _

“I’m actually gonna punch you.”

“And that’s my cue to leave. Bye!” Ninten exited the bakery with a pep in his step.

It was only when he stepped back into his car he realized maybe this wasn’t the best decision he had made.

 

* * *

“My office is locked up?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll be sure to lock up everyone else’s offices before you leave?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll—”

“For fuck’s sake, Ninten, I’m not an idiot. Just go on your date.”

Ninten made a face at Teddy, who was suspiciously too happy for being the one who had to lock the office. They both knew why Ninten wasn’t staying behind the office at ridiculous times like he had been since they first bought the space. It was just Teddy was having way more fun with it than he should be.

Teddy pushed him out of the office before Ninten could say anything else. He bid him a goodnight and slammed the door shut.

Jackass.

“Your employees giving you shit?” came a voice.

Ninten jumped, then turned to face a laughing man that had become too familiar. “Co-worker,” he said, pretending like he hadn’t just been jumpscared. “Teddy. He’s a little bitch sometimes. You know, kind of like you, Claus.”

Claus shrugged. “What can I say? Being a little bitch is fun.” He wrapped an arm around Ninten’s shoulders, his movements somehow managing to drip of sarcasm. “Where should we go on our date,  _ sweetie?” _

“Nowhere if you keep up those pet names,  _ babe.” _

“Nonsense,  _ cupcake.” _

“Are you just using baking-related pet names?”

“Maybe.” Claus retracted his arm once he was sure Ninten was completely uncomfortable. “Anyway, there’s a new cafe that opened not too far from here, if you’re feeling up for coffee.”

“Claus, it’s two in the morning, and I’m planning on going to sleep after this.”

“Weak. What about a restaurant?”

“Who goes to a sit-down restaurant this late at night?”

“Who goes on a date this late at night?”

Ninten had to admit he had a point. “What if we just went to a bar? We can get wasted and pretend like this never happened.”

Claus considered the idea for a moment before nodding. “Actually, that sounds good. What about Midnight?”

Ninten made a face. The last time he had drinks catered from there, one of the guests had found a hair in her drink and made a big fuss about it. “Ew, no.”

“Okay, then how does Black Skies sound?”

“Their administration is a bitch to talk to.”

“Neon Heights?”

“Have you tasted their beer? Fucking disgusting.”

“Okay, then why don’t you fucking choose one?”

Ninten froze, going through the list of bars he had contacted over the years. Which ones had decent drinks again? And which ones didn’t have a trashy atmosphere? There was this one wedding where he had rented out a bar as a venue, but that bar had closed down a couple years ago…

Claus huffed. “You picky fuck. No wonder you became a wedding planner.”

“Well, fuck you, too.”

“How about this? I’ll just go walk to a bar near here, and we just drink there. Simple enough?”

Ninten hesitated. “I don’t trust your taste in good alcohol.”

“If I let you decide, we would be standing here until sunrise.” Claus took his hand and dragged him along. “Now, come on.”

Ninten supposed he had no choice but to go along for the ride. He didn’t like giving up control over what was happening this easily, but he doubted he could rip his hand away very easily, considering how strong the other’s grip was. Should he voice that thought out loud?

“You look like a fucking stick,” Ninten said. “How are you this strong? Does kneading make you swole or something?”

Okay. He supposed he was running with it.

Instead of shooting back an insult like he expected, Claus only laughed and relaxed his grip. “Nah, it’s the carrying a bunch of boxes around part that gets you. Flour is way heavier than it looks.” A mischievous twinkle sparked in his eyes, and he flexed his other arm. “What? You like what you see?”

Ninten released his hand and took a major side-step while Claus cackled to himself. “We’ll see who’s laughing when you can’t carry ten flower pots at once.”

“Still me.”

In any other case, Ninten would have asked himself why he agreed to this, but he was the sad fool that had suggested it in the first place. He played himself.

Ninten rolled his eyes and continued walking.

 

* * *

“Claus?”

“Kumatora?”

How suddenly Claus’s face paled would have been hilarious if the pink-haired bartender wasn’t gaping at Ninten specifically.

Ninten looked away, suddenly conscious of the wrinkles in his clothes and the bags under his eyes. His gaze flickered to the cabinet of bottles behind her, some other people on the dance floor, a few sat down and watching their friends make fools of themselves, the fairy lights everywhere, and down to the counter they sat at. If he was being completely honest, the place was actually pretty nice. You know, if it wasn’t for the elevating tension between his friend and the bartender.

Could he even call Claus a friend at that point? He  _ had _ agreed to go on a fake date with Ninten, but that could also just be because he wanted the best wedding for his brother…

Then Kumatora burst out laughing. “I can’t believe it! Claus finally got himself a man?”

Claus’s face reddened. “Shut up, Kumatora! Just… Just don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Huh? Why not?”

“This isn’t serious or anything, and I don’t want to introduce my friends to anyone I’m not dating seriously.”

“Ah, okay.” Kumatora nodded understandingly. “Guess this’ll be our little secret then.” She held her hand out to Ninten. “‘Sup, kid? The name’s Kumatora.”

Ninten shook her hand, wincing at the strength of the handshake. “I’m Ninten. Nice to meet you. Do you own this bar?”

“Nope, my parents do. All seven of them.” She cackled at the confused expression on Ninten’s face. “To you, they’re the Magypsies.”

“Do you guys do catering?”

Claus poked his side before Kumatora could answer, a pout pulling at his lips. “Are you seriously trying to conduct business while you’re on a date? Come on, man.”

Kumatora shrugged. “Hate to say it, but I agree. You’ve just gotta chill sometimes. Now, what can I getcha?”

“Something that won’t get me wasted.”

“Does a pinot noir sound good?”

“Sure.”

“How about you, kid?”

“Don’t call me kid, you’re only six years older than me,” Claus murmured. “I’ll take a PK Fire.”

“With fire?”

“With fire.”

Kumatora nodded and busied herself with taking orders from another group of people who had walked in.

Ninten snickered and elbowed him. “Nice quick-thinking. Didn’t know you were capable of it.”

“Actually, I’d say I’m pretty smart,” Claus said.

“Oh, really?”

“Yup. Graduated with a degree in robotics.”

“So did two of my other friends. And a degree doesn’t make you smart.”

“I’d say you have to be plenty smart to open a business on your own.”

“Now you’re just bragging about yourself,” Kumatora said, passing them their drinks. She rang up the money they handed her. “Aren’t you the same person who misspelled ‘Happy birthday’ on a cake? Multiple times?”

Claus sighed as Ninten laughed. “Yes, I suppose that was me.”

“Oh, by the way?” Kumatora grinned and pointed at Claus’s drink, which was… lit on fire? “He only orders this drink on fire when he’s trying to impress someone.”

“That’s not true at all.”

“Hm, sounds like a lie, but I’ll fuck off now. Have fun, you two.” And with that, Kumatora left their side of the counter to tend to the group of people who had come in after them.

Ninten laughed, poking Claus’s cheek. His heart fluttered when Claus pouted. “Aw, you were trying to impress me? Also, blow out the fire before you drink, you dunce.”

Claus jolted himself from his trance, putting the drink down on the table before he set his face on fire. His face was red anyway. “Shut up, I hate you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very.” He tugged at his collar and blew out the flame on his drink.

The rest of their talk was… nice. For someone who was such a dick when they first met, Claus was a much better human being than Ninten gave him credit for. They exchanged stories about their childhood, shenanigans in school, the most ridiculous stuff that had happened in their careers, and more he couldn’t keep track of. In the end, Ninten couldn’t believe how much he was enjoying their hangout.

At least, until his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Ninten checked his phone, frowning at the frantic messages from Ana. “Something’s happening at a wedding. I’ve gotta go.”

Claus raised an eyebrow. “So that’s why you got a light drink. You’re on call at three in the morning?”

“Yup.”

“I can respect that. Be sure to get some good sleep.”

“Yeah, sure. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Ninten downed the rest of his drink before exiting the bar. He called for a ride on a ride-sharing app, sending a response to Ana after he did so. As he waited, his thoughts drifted back to his original purpose for the fake date.

Love. He had been surrounded by it since childhood, but romantic love was something he still couldn’t wrap his head around.

But love was warm, gentle, tender. It was like a home he could count on returning to after a hard day at work. It was neither happy nor sad; it just was.

And with that, Ninten hummed a melody into his phone’s voice recorder and waited for his ride, his head swimming with music.

 

* * *

As soon as Ninten walked into the wedding venue, Ana wrinkled her nose at him. “Ninten? Why do you look so dazed? Your face is red, too. Did you get sick again?”

“Sick with love,” Ninten deadpanned.

“Now isn’t time for jokes. Help me find the bride’s father. He was supposed to make a toast.”

Ninten didn’t know how to explain he wasn’t sure if he was joking or not, but he figured Ana’s problem was more important and set out to race through the hallways of the venue. Thus was the life of being a wedding planner, and he had accepted his fate long ago.

 

* * *

“So I helped?”

“Wipe that smug ass grin off your face.”

Claus did not wipe his smug ass grin off his face. In fact, it only grew wider.

The two sat in Ninten’s office at midnight after an especially slow day at Claus’s bakery and a wedding being much shorter than Ninten anticipated. They reviewed Ninten’s composition together, seated across from each other in his office.

“But yeah,” Ninten sighed, “I guess you did. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

It was weird. They had never had an awkward silence before, but now that they had no reason to see each other until the wedding that was still half a year away…

Ninten didn’t like that thought, and neither did Claus by the looks of it.

Ninten swallowed his pride and spoke. “Hey.”

Claus looked up at him.

“I know we don’t really have a reason to keep seeing each other, but as aggravating as you are, I think you’ve grown on me. Wanna keep hanging out? You know, as friends.”

Claus blinked.

Regret washed over him. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that.

“I mean, I’m not opposed to it.”

Oh, thank god. Ninten didn’t have to change his name and move out of the country just yet.

“You’ve grown on me, too, you fungus,” Claus chuckled, gently hitting Ninten’s arm.

Then Claus sent him a radiant smile, one that pierced through the darkness of the night. It jolted Ninten out of the fog of exhaustion and sent an arrow straight through his heart. Suddenly, his family’s shared love of sunflowers made so much more sense. Claus’s smile was positively sunny.

Ninten looked away in fear of being blinded. “Shut up and go home. I still have to finish up some things.”

Claus saluted him and headed for the door. “Alright, see you later.”

“Goodnight.”

The door clicked shut behind him, and Ninten was left to sort out why his heart was beating so quickly on his own.

 

* * *

At least in this instance, Ninten knew why his heart felt like it would explode. His fingers trembled as he opened the music files on his computer. “I called you here to discuss the music playing at your wedding. I know we already booked the Runaway Five to play in person, but we spoke with them, and they were willing to play songs by other composers. Do you have anything in mind?”

Ness laughed. “Ninten, you look like you’re about to play something for us already. Why don’t we give that a listen first?”

“Ah. Right. Okay. Just let me, um…” Ninten clicked on the play button.

Three chords, then a bassline. The percussion followed. A guitar strum and the melody entered, and the song continued playing.

In Ninten’s opinion, the most rewarding part of planning weddings were seeing his clients’ faces melt with adoration. He was in this industry because seeing the sheer amount of love people were capable of never failed to brighten his day.

Ninten couldn’t help the warmth rising in his chest upon seeing their faces light up and their smiles glow. The atmosphere of love remained even after the song ended.

“Oh my god,” Lucas breathed. He turned to Ness. “Ness, do you know what that reminds me of?”

Ness smiled. “Tazmily.”

“My hometown…”

“You wanna have it played before and after the ceremony?”

“Absolutely. But could we listen to the next songs before deciding?”

“There’s only one left,” Ninten said, “It’s kind of similar to the first one, though.” Nevertheless, he clicked the play button.

Unlike before, the melody and bassline immediately started playing, joined by the harmony after asserting themselves. A run climbed up to the highest point of the song to a heaven of long, sustained notes. The notes led down the scale, ultimately ending in a harmonious chord. It wasn’t long by any means, but Ninten would be lying if he said he wasn’t holding back tears from watching his friends’ facial expressions move with the song.

Ness took Lucas’s hand. “I know I said I didn’t care much about the music and other stuff about the wedding, but… I can see us sharing our first dance as husbands to this.”

Lucas gave him a gentle smile. “Me too. Maybe record a video so we can remember it, or at least copy the song down on a CD.”

“I don’t think we need a video. I can hear the music in my head right now, and I’m just… god, Lucas, I love you.”

“I love you, too. I love you so much more than words can say. When we dance to this… I hope you can feel a little bit of just how much I love you.”

“When we dance to this…” Ness’s gaze flooded with adoration. “We’ll be husbands.”

“Husbands,” Lucas repeated, his voice soft. They held a moment of silence before he turned to Ninten. “Ninten, can we please have the second one play for our first dance? And can we have the first one played before and after the ceremony?”

Ninten smiled. The back of his eyes burned from unshed tears, and he wasn’t sure how much more his heart could handle. “You don’t need to ask me, you lovebirds. Of course.” They could ask for the world, and he would try his hardest to get it for them.

Ness paused before asking, “Hey, can we listen to the second one again? I just want to make sure of something…”

“Sure.” Ninten pressed the play button once more as he made notes on his computer.

The song played once more. Once the last chord played, tears started falling down Ness’s cheeks, and alarms rang in Ninten’s head.

“Ness?” Ninten called. “What’s wrong?”

Ness laughed. He reached forward to grab Ninten’s hand. “Ninten, you absolute dork. I shared a dorm with you during your music minor. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice all the heart you put into the music?”

“Wh-What do you mean?”

“You composed it for us, didn’t you?”

Ninten sighed, his heart blossoming upon seeing Lucas’s face brighten from the revelation. “Yeah, you caught me. But Claus helped, too.”

“Oh my god, Claus was in on it?” Lucas said, laughing. “No wonder it sounded so much like our hometown! I was wondering if it was a composer from Tazmily.”

“Nope, just lil ol’ me.”

Ness sniffed and wiped his tears away, but more streamed down. He shot Ninten the same silly grin he had been since high school. “Ninten, I really can’t thank you enough. It’s just… you’ve been there for me so many times. I don’t know where I’d be without you dragging me out of trouble again and again.”

Ninten smiled, his own tears starting to fall. “Ah, damn it. Stop making me cry, you dweeb. You’re my best friend. I care about you so much.”

“Ninten,” Lucas called, clasping his own hands around Ness and Ninten’s joined hands. His eyes welled up with tears. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us, both as a planner and as a friend. Neither of us will ever forget this.”

“Lucas, you’re as much of a dweeb as Ness is. You’re perfect for each other.”

The three sat in the office, their hands connected as they shed the last of their tears.

 

* * *

A fond smile found its way onto Claus’s lips after Ninten finished relaying Ness and Lucas’s reaction to the music. “You know you didn’t have to tell me about this, right? Lucas told me the day it happened.” When Ninten visibly deflated, he added, “I’m not saying I don’t like hearing about it, though. You look like a dork when you get all excited like that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ninten asked.

“Nothing.” He turned away. “Absolutely nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes the song is mom's hometown. im sorry
> 
> also pk fire is a real drink someone made that i dont have the bookmark to right now but its on tumblr if you search the right key words.


	3. Chapter 3

Watching Minnie be an absolute dork with his clients never failed to make Ninten smile. The fact that she had spun Ness’s chair around multiple times and jokingly offered to put Lucas’s hair in pigtails struck fear through his heart first and foremost from the sheer number of times she had done the same thing to him. But it also reminded him of how proud he was of his sister and friends for making it this far. He really needed to voice that thought more often.

Ness and Lucas walked out of the hair salon, laughing at pictures they had taken of their more ridiculous hairstyles.

“So?” Ninten said. “You’ve met three stylists so far. Any preferences you’re leaning to?”

“Can we just have Minnie do our hair?” Ness asked.

Lucas nodded. “I think someone energetic like her would be good to have around on a wedding day.”

Ninten pursed his lips. “Are you sure this is the stylist you want? You don’t want to look at any more?”

“No. I think we’ve decided.” Lucas paused. He lowered his voice, though it still held a hint of amusement. “And is that the little sister you were talking about? The one that singed your hair one time?”

Ninten sighed, unable to bite back the smile on his face and reaching up to ensure his hair was still in one piece. “Twice, unfortunately.”

 

* * *

 

“You want me to give a toast at your wedding?”

Ness gave him a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, of course. You would have been best man, too, but since you refused  _ that _ role…”

Ninten’s mind raced with all the possibilities of the speeches he could make. He rubbed his hands together and grinned. “You should not have given me this much power.”

“Congratulations, you have it now. Just don’t blow up the world, and we’re good.”

“Are you fine with being roasted?”

“I don’t think I have a choice anyway.”

Ninten hated to admit he was right. Still, he had a job to uphold first and foremost. “How many people are you planning on asking to give toasts?”

Ness sighed. “Always business first, huh? I’m asking you, my mom, and my little sister. Lucas is picking three people, too.”

“And how long are each of these speeches gonna be?”

“You tell me.”

Okay, that was a stupid question, Ninten could admit his faults. Then one look at the dopey smile on Ness’s face was enough to send Ninten into a laughing fit and remind him why exactly they were friends again.

 

* * *

 

“Who do you think I should ask to give speeches?”

Ninten opened his mouth to speak, then stopped himself. He frowned. “Lucas, it’s your wedding. You can ask anyone you want.”

“Yeah, and that’s the problem.”

The two were seated at a park bench, watching the different aspects of nature interact with each other. Or, at least, Ninten was. He wasn’t sure if Lucas was too distressed to pay attention to nature or not, even with the kind of person he was.

“Okay,” Ninten said, “Do you have anyone you know for sure you want to give a speech?”

Lucas hummed in thought. “Um… I’ll probably have Claus give one. But I’m not sure about anyone else from then on. I want my dad to give a speech, but he’s a quiet person. If he agrees to give one, I’ll need to choose between Kumatora and Duster, but I don’t think I can do that. They’re both my friends. Or I could have Boney give a speech.”

“Boney is… your dog.”

“Yes.”

They stared blankly at each other.

“... Okay,” Ninten eventually said. “You don’t need to restrict it to three people, you know. I don’t think we can arrange for Boney to give a speech, but you can have the other four give speeches.”

Lucas stopped. He took a moment to process what Ninten had just said, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Yeah,” Ninten said. “I feel that.”

 

* * *

 

“Claus?”

“If you tell me that ‘just speak from the heart’ bullshit, I’m kicking you out.”

“This is my office.”

“Not anymore.”

Ninten stared blankly as Claus laughed at his own joke. At this point, his office was just becoming a space where random friends could come in and interrupt his work. But this friend happened to bring donuts, so it was okay. (And the fact that he wasn’t just a friend, but Ninten shoved that away in the deepest part of his mind.)

“Claus,” Ninten called, “I really can’t tell you much other than consult Lucas before saying dumb shit and say what you want to say. The best speeches really are from the heart.”

“Can you not give me some writing tips or something?”

“Yeah. Write from the heart.”

“You’re not helping.”

Ninten sighed, looking up from his own draft. “Fine. First, you should probably determine what kind of speech you want to make it. Do you want it to be sappy or do you want to roast someone? The words you use should reflect that, and so should what you bring up. Does that make sense?”

Claus stared blankly at him.

“So that’s a no. You want me to just read mine out loud?”

He nodded.

“Alright.” Ninten leaned back in his chair and cleared his throat. He read the draft on his computer out loud in the most dramatic voice he could, occasionally having to stop to account for Claus’s intermittent laughter.

But near the end of the speech, there was pensive silence. It was reassuring Ninten had the correct effect on the audience, but considering the type of person Claus was, it was concerning.

Claus met his eyes and smiled gently. “They’re really gonna love that speech.”

Ninten’s heart leaped. “You think so?”

“Yeah. So that’s what you mean by straight from the heart…” Claus stared at the own paper in his hands. He looked up with furrowed eyebrows when Ninten put his hand over his.

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Ninten said. Ironic because he was thinking way too hard about what he had just done. “Go home and just go about your day. It’ll come find you when it needs you to write it down.”

“That’s the most cliche thing I’ve ever heard, but thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Could you stop holding my hand now?”

Ninten retracted his hand so quickly the motion was a blur. “Oh, um, sorry.”

Claus stood up. “Nah, it’s fine. Your hand felt nice anyway.” Then as if he didn’t say something completely devastating and embarrassing, he waved a goodbye and exited his office.

Ninten stared straight ahead, processing what had just happened.

 

* * *

 

“Ninten, I need you to email…” Lloyd stopped and stared at Ninten, whose forehead was on his desk. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Ninten groaned.

 

* * *

 

Ninten clapped and whistled the moment Ness stepped out of the dressing room. “Fucking get it, Ness!”

Paula and Tony laughed and whistled along, while Jeff and Poo were content to clap as loud as they could for their friend. Ness grinned, though his face flushed just a bit.

Ninten couldn’t say he was very involved with the clothes side of business (which meant he didn’t get to spend as much time with Mimmie. He didn’t like to think about that), as he found it was usually an intimate experience with close friends and family that he didn’t feel comfortable interrupting. But now that he got to be a part of a suit fitting and he was staring at the image of his best friend somehow not looking like he just stepped out of a garbage can for once, he realized why they were so special, such an experience.

“Do a twirl!” Paula cheered.

He wasn’t wearing a dress, but Ness twirled around in his black tuxedo anyway, stopping when he made one full rotation and wearing an embarrassed smile. “God, you guys are gonna be the death of me.”

“Don’t you dare die until your wedding day. Then you can die all you want.”

“Thanks, Paula.”

“I’ve always got your back, Ness.”

“Do you like the style?” Mimmie asked, stepping into the room. She giggled upon being met with an enthusiastic nod from Ness and shouts of encouragement from the group. “There’s more styles waiting for you in the dressing room. Take your time trying them out.”

Ness smiled. “Thanks, Mimmie.”

She shot him a peace sign, then exited. A classic Mimmie move.

Ness turned around, only to see Jeff holding up a phone at him. “Were you taking pictures this entire time?”

Jeff laughed and set his phone down. “I figured you would want comparison pictures when you make your decision. And this was Poo’s fault, by the way.”

Poo smiled, holding his phone out. “Would you like to take a look?”

When Ness’s lips curved into a soft, gentle smile with the warmth of the sun, Ninten knew everything was exactly right.

 

* * *

 

“Welcome to—What the fuck happened to your face?”

Ninten laughed. “I’m glad to be welcomed to an aptly named store.”

Apparently Claus wasn’t in the mood to laugh, because he whispered something to an employee before stepping out from behind the counter to stand in front of Ninten. He took Ninten’s face in one hand, brushing his thumb near the burn on his cheek. He scrutinized the burn, leaning closer while doing so. “What happened?”

All this contact was not good for Ninten’s heart, but he melted into it anyway. His gaze drifted down to the other’s lips for a split second before moving to stare at the wall behind him. “Imagine me at a wedding rehearsal. Then imagine the venue using candles for lighting. And then all you have to do is imagine some dumbass knocking one of those long candles over right where I was trying to sketch an outline of logistics for the actual day.”

“And you decided to be a dumbass and not put, like, cold water over it?”

“Didn’t have time.”

“How long ago did this happen?”

“Like, twelve hours ago.”

Claus cursed under his breath. “Sit down, I’ll get something for it.”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“We have burns all the time here.” He directed a glare at the employee he had whispered to earlier. “Especially because  _ someone _ can’t stop burning themselves on the oven.”

The employee only shrugged.

Claus retreated into the work room as Ninten sat down at a table. As soon as he did so, the employee from before grinned at Ninten from the register and waved.

“Hey,” the employee said, “me and the other guys have been asking who you were for a while, but good ol’ Claus over here refused to tell us. Mind telling us your name?”

Sounded like a Claus move. Ninten waved back. “I’m Ninten.”

“Nice to meetcha. I’m Fuel. And, uh, who was your friend who came with you that first day with Marshmallow?”

“Lloyd.”

Fuel nodded and laughed. “It’s good finally knowing your names, especially since Claus won’t stop talking about you. He uses pronouns so much we’ve started making fun of it.”

Ninten’s heart stopped. “He talks about me?”

“All good things, I swear. Well, if you discount those first few times you came over.”

Claus talked about him enough for his employees to remember him? Ninten fought to keep the glee off his face, though he wasn’t sure why it wanted to be there in the first place.

No, he did know. He just didn’t want to admit it.

Ninten shifted in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. It was time to switch topics. “Do you really burn yourself that often?”

Fuel shrugged. “When I first started, I burned myself about once every week. Now, it’s a few times every month. You make the judgement call.”

He didn’t have enough experience baking to know if that truly was often enough to warrant Claus teasing him for it, but Ninten nodded anyway as if he understood.

Claus chose that moment to walk in and seat himself next to Ninten. He uncapped a container with some sort of ointment. “Can I?”

Ninten gulped and nodded, hoping his nervousness wasn’t too noticeable.

Claus carefully applied the ointment to his burn, brows furrowed in concentration and touch gentler than Ninten had ever felt. He stuck a cloth on top, then smiled proudly. “There. It should feel better in a few minutes.”

But he didn’t back away. He stayed where he was, his hand still holding Ninten’s face. It was only then Ninten saw the freckles on his face, the neatness behind his disastrous hair, the fondness in his eyes. Claus’s gaze ran over Ninten’s face as if he was going through the same revelation.

The moment stopped as soon as it came when Claus suddenly whipped around towards a grinning Fuel and shouted, “Shut up, Fuel!”

“I didn’t even say anything,” Fuel laughed, holding his palms up defensively.

“I’ve known you for way longer than I would’ve liked, I know when you’re about to say something stupid.”

“If you really knew me, you’d know everything I say is stupid.”

Ninten decided then that he liked Fuel. Stupid ramblings solidarity. He tugged on the sleeve of Claus’s shirt. “Oh, lay off him. He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Claus turned back to him with a wrinkled nose, but his expression soon dissolved into a pout. He brushed a lock of hair behind Ninten’s ear and sighed. “Is the burn feeling better?”

_ It would feel better with a kiss. _

“Yeah,” Ninten said, crushing his thoughts mercilessly. He smiled. “Thanks.”

 

* * *

“You’re leaving the office early again?”

A wave of guilt washed over Ninten, and he turned back to Lloyd from the front door. “Should I not? I can always do more work—”

“Hell no, you go do your thing,” Lloyd said. He chuckled. “It’s just nice seeing you not be a workaholic for once.”

Ninten wrinkled his nose. “I was  _ not _ a workaholic.”

“Was too.”

“Was not!”

“Really? Ness tells me you were an overachiever in high school, and you worked your ass off the first day we got into that wedding planning company. Looks like you haven’t changed at all.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”

Lloyd rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but Teddy spoke first from his opened office.

“Have fun on your date!” Teddy said.

Ninten swang the door open, almost smacking the doorknob against the wall with the force he used. “It’s not a date!”

“Sure, kid. Whatever you say.”

“You’re so… ugh! Whatever. Bye, guys. Call me if you need anything.” And with that, Ninten waved them a goodbye before leaving the office and shutting the door behind him.

Ninten groaned and ran his hands over his face, already feeling his face burning. Was he really so predictable that Teddy could foresee who he was hanging out with and tease him about it so quickly? And why was he so embarrassed about this? Fuck!

And of course, Claus chose that moment to arrive. He raised an eyebrow at Ninten’s state. “You good?”

Ninten nodded and took a deep breath, fighting to calm his heart. “Yeah. Just my co-workers.”

“Ah, okay, I understand. Where do you wanna go?”

“I picked last time, so you pick.”

And as Claus picked a random direction to walk in and rambled on about something that had happened in his bakery, Ninten couldn’t help but feel maybe this was a date.

 

* * *

 

“Alright, one month before the wedding,” Ninten announced at their round table, dropping a manila folder full of papers onto the table. It landed with a loud thud that made the other three wince. “Let’s do this, folks. Teddy, touch base with the Runaway Five again and make sure they know all the logistics at the venue.”

Teddy gave him a thumbs up while scribbling his words down on a sticky note.

“Ana, reconfirm the number of flower arrangements we’ll have. Go over where they’ll be placed at the venue with the florist.”

Ana nodded, already starting to sketch out the venue on a sheet of paper.

“Lloyd, you’re on electronic logistics as always. You know what to do. And I’ve got the rest of it.” Ninten looked up from the phone he read off of. “Everyone good?”

They mumbled their yeses, dispersing to do their work.

Even with Ninten’s internal turmoil, he was happy there was at least one constant in his life.

 

* * *

 

“This is the final order of the songs the Runaway Five will play,” Teddy said, scrolling through a list of songs on his phone. “Is that good?”

Ninten scrutinized the songs before nodding. “Yeah, that’s good.”

 

* * *

 

Ana took a deep breath after finishing explaining her plans for the floral arrangement of the two venues. “Is this fine?”

“Looks great,” Ninten said.

 

* * *

 

“... You didn’t understand a word of what I just said, did you?”

Ninten shrugged and offered a smile to a pouting Lloyd. “I trust you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ll tell the venue owners. They’re smarter than you are.”

“Everyone is.”

“Finally, you’re right about something.”

 

* * *

 

Ninten crumpled under Ness and Lucas’s unamused glares. “I know I’m a dumbass, okay? I just have work to do.”

“When’s the last time you ate?” Ness asked.

“Fuck if I know.”

“Last time you showered?”

“Yesterday, thankfully.”

“Last time you had a good night’s sleep?”

“Since I was in the womb.”

“You’re a disaster, Ninten.”

Before Ninten could retort, Lucas sighed and spoke.

“We really worry about you sometimes. Thankfully, Claus saw this coming, so he told me to give this to you.” Lucas passed a blue packaged box to him. He chuckled upon seeing the surprise on Ninten’s face. “There’s people looking out for you, okay? I know our wedding is in a week, but you’ve taken care of things well enough for you to relax a bit.”

Ninten’s heart warmed, and he couldn’t help the smile rising to his face. “Thanks, you two. Really.”

Ness and Lucas shot him equally bright smiles back.


End file.
